Sapphire Dreams
by SilverDuranX
Summary: [HimexOtomeAU]Peace had returned to Fuuka after the destruction of the Princess Star, however over a year later the peace is once again disturbed. Now the Ikuzuhime of Fuuka must team up with a new type of HiME to restore peace to the land again.
1. Chap 1: The Arrival

Notes:

Well here are a few things I thought you should know before reading. This fic takes place one year after the events of the anime, and binds together the worlds of Mai HiME and Mai Otome. Also some of the original HiME characters will have a bit of their attitudes from Mai Otome to a certain degree and there are one or two manga references here and there as well(nothing major though). Oh and as you probably can guess, I don't own Mai HiME or Mai Otome. Both are the property of Sunrise, and Bandai holds the US license.

* * *

The Chairman's office 

The room shone red, as the sun rose on the horizon. In the middle of the room sat a young girl staring out of the window at the glorious sight. Her soft purple hair laid gently on the light blue sweater she was wearing over her white dress. She had been thinking about the upcoming school year and making plans for the new students all night. Being the chairman of Fuuka Academy wasn't an easy task, especially with the kind of people who go to school. Under normal circumstances she would've done it today but her schedule was way too grueling to give her any sort of free time. Meeting after meeting she would have to sit through, with faculty, parents and students as well as a board meeting tonight. Today was going to be a busy one; one she wasn't looking forward to.

"Miss Mashiro, the Vice Principle has arrived," a sweet voice called from the other room.

"Thank you Fumi. You may let her in," the chairman replied turning her wheelchair toward the door. This meeting was the only one that Mashiro really looked forward to. After all this year's vice principle had been a valuable asset to her last year, as her assistant. She had lightened her load of work by a lot, as well as kept the school in order, even though she had to deal with last year's Student Counsel and its bullish president. It was only natural to want to keep her around, which is why Mashiro had offered her the new job. Sure she was young but being recent alumni of Fuuka and a former Student Counsel President herself, she was well known and respected around the school.

"Good morning Shizuru!" Mashiro greeted pleasantly as the two wooden doors of her office opened and a woman with long brown hair, wearing a lilac and white dress stood in the doorway.

"Good morning Miss Mashiro. How can I be of service?" Shizuru asked as she walked toward the middle of the room.

"First of all, I'm sorry about the timing of this meeting. It was the only time I would have free today. I hope I haven't inconvenienced you in anyway," Mashiro apologized.

"Oh, it is no trouble at all," Shizuru replied politely. She was cool and calm as usual.

"Ok, down to business," Mashiro sighed, "One of the reasons I have called you here is to discuss the principle's absence."

"Ah, yes. She told me that she will be out for the entire year once again," Shizuru replied.

"Right, which is why I have to ask you take on some of her duties," Mashiro said calmly, "Fumi and I will also be taking on some of her duties, so you won't have to stress yourself too much. Is that ok?"

"That is fine," Shizuru smiled.

"The other reason I called you here is to discuss this year's Student Counsel, its President to be precise," Mashiro said calmly.

"Oh, I don't think we will have any trouble with the new president," Shizuru replied politely, "I trust her with my life."

* * *

"Ah!" Arika exclaimed as the train exited the tunnel and she got her first glance at the city. It was like nothing she had ever seen before, growing up in the mountains. She had always wanted to visit a city. The thought had always crossed her mind back at home and she couldn't wait to go there. However, she would have to wait a while. Her stop wasn't here in Tsukimori, but about 15 minutes away in Fuuka. She was going to be attending Fuuka Academy, a coed private school, starting today so she was really excited; she had barely slept during the long train ride. This was going to be her first time away from home as well as her first time at a coed school. 

She had looked forward to this day since she received that mysterious letter. She had found the letter a few days after her grandmother died on her doorstep. It wasn't signed or marked in anyway, and no one in town had seen who had put the letter there either. So there was no way for her to know who wrote it.

The letter gave instructions for her to apply to Fuuka Academy and said that all fees and expenses would be taken care of. At first she thought it was a practical joke but the reason she decided to trust the sender was the fact that it mentioned her mother. She had never known either of her parents. Her grandmother had told her that they had died shortly after she was born. Also since she was an only child, she had no blood relatives. Even her grandmother, who had raised her, wasn't related to her. She had found her in basket in the river and decided to take care of her. The only thing that she had from her parents was a necklace that she was wearing when her grandmother had found her. According to the letter her mother had attended Fuuka as well, so she figured that it would be a good place to begin researching her parents.

* * *

The chairman once again sat in solitude. Shizuru had only left her about ten minutes ago, and she was busy preparing herself mentally for her upcoming meeting. It was the same thing every year, but she still hadn't gotten use to it. As she had finally gotten her head straight, she heard a familiar whiny male voice come from the far corner of the room 

"Aw how boring… Mashiro."

"Nagi…" the chairman sighed, coolly, as a young boy with pale blue hair took a step out of the corner.

"Ah, so you're not surprised to see me?" he said calmly, spreading his arms out emphatically.

"Of course not," the chairman replied, closing her eyes. In so many ways, she wanted to rip that annoying smile off of his face, but it wasn't necessary. He wasn't a threat anymore.

"Aw is that how you welcome an old friend?" Nagi whined, his smile widening.

"What do you want? I don't have time for this," Mashiro said smoothly. This was something she really didn't want to have to deal with, not today. There was way too much work to be done.

"You're such a little meanie, Mashiro," Nagi said extending his hand forward, "I just wanted to discuss some HiME business with you."

"HiME?" the Mashiro asked confused, "Isn't it a little early to be discussing that again?"

"Ah, that's right. You wouldn't know anything about what's going to happen really soon," Nagi sighed. His tone was very condescending. "You weren't conceived yet the last time this happened."

"What are you talking about? It's only been two years since the last Princess Star came to Earth. Those girls don't have anything else to do with it," the chairman said, regaining her composure.

The smile on Nagi's face grew even wider. "You are right you know? Those girls don't have anything to do with this," Nagi said slowly dancing across the room, "However there is still some business that has to be attended to."

Mashiro stared down the aqua haired boy harshly.

"I see you don't want to chat so I'll just leave then," the boy said turning around.

She didn't have a clue what he wanted but, she knew he wasn't someone to be taken lightly; she had to hear him out just incase. "Wait…" her tone was low and defeated "If those girls aren't involved, then what is this "business" about?"

"You expect me to tell you after such a harsh welcoming?" Nagi asked cutting his eye playfully at her. She knew that he was only pretending to be shocked. "Very well, I just wanted to ask you what you would do if Orphans started to appear again."

Mashiro was caught off guard. Things just didn't add up. "Why? It's impossible for orphans to start reappearing; there isn't a Princess Star near enough for that to happen," she replied rubbing the handles of her wheelchair nervously.

"You really think so? You are so blind," Nagi giggled.

He was really beginning to push her patience now but the shear shock was a far greater annoyance. "What do you mean by that?"

"Mashiro… Mashiro… that is all I can say to you," Nagi said as his body began to disintegrate into black vapour.

_What was that about? _Mashiro thought, resting her head into her hands. Nagi's words had instilled fear within her. She could tell something big was going to happen really soon, but she didn't know what. Things really weren't looking good for Fuuka.

* * *

Aoi sat on her bed silently brushing her long brown hair. It was the first day of her final year at Fuuka, a day she had both looked forward to and hoped would never come. It was going to be a great, yet sad year, but she planned to enjoy every minute of it. "Sleeping as usual…" she said softly turning her head to the other side of the room where her roommate's bed was. She was shocked by what she saw; the bed was empty. Normally this wouldn't have surprised her, but what was strange was that the bed looked like it had been slept in. _Did she really spend the night here? _Aoi thought curiously. 

Her roommate was a real reckless one. Always sneaking out at nights to do who knows what in Tsukimori Town all night. Usually she would return in the morning, either before or after Aoi had awakened and slept most of the day away, skipping all of her classes. It had been a miracle that she had made it to her first year of high school. Then again she had always had a way with persuading male teacher to do anything she wanted, not to mention as a member, even if it was against her will, of the school's most exclusive club and was on a special scholarship, she was allowed a large amount leniency.

Anyway, whatever was going on wasn't really a major concern for Aoi right now; she had to finish getting ready as soon as possible. She had to be ready before the last new student arrived this morning. It was her job as the new Resident Assistant of the fifth floor to make sure that everyone checked in without any problems. The last person from her floor was going to be arriving soon, so she had to deal with her this morning. Because of this late arrival both girls had been excused from morning classes, so that Aoi could give her a short tour of the school. "Ready!" Aoi announced grabbing her bag and heading toward the door.

Just before Aoi could reach the door there was a sudden knocking. "Coming!" she announced grabbing the handle. When she opened the door there stood a girl wearing a gold vest, with a short sleeve shirt under it and a grey skirt similar to the one she was wearing. The girl looked really familiar but something about her didn't seem right to Aoi.

"Ready for the first day of school?" the girl asked leaning in close.

"Uh… yeah," Aoi replied smiling nervously.

"Good, because we have a lot of things to do this year," the girl said leaning back smiling, "I have a ton of gossip to catch up on…"

"Chie?" Aoi asked scanning the girl up and down, "almost didn't recognize you."

"Huh?" Chie asked surprised.

"Uh…" Aoi said pointing to her nose.

"What's wrong with my face?" Chie cried touching her face.

"…your glasses," Aoi said pointing to Chie's vacant nose.

"Oh, yeah I got contacts just after the break began," Chie explained running her fingers through her short charcoal colored hair nervously. "Anyway I heard about the new student. You're so lucky," Chie said as they walked down the hallway.

"Yeah, but I really wanted to go to homeroom this morning. Midori said she was planning something special before the break," Aoi sighed. She knew it had to be something good, because Midori had been a really good teacher to them for the past two years.

"Yeah, that's too bad," Chie replied turning her head. In front of them a door opened and a girl with short orange hair hopped out of her room.

She wore the standard high school uniform, which was clung slightly snug on her body. In her hands were two lunchboxes wrapped in decorated cloth and she held her book bag in her mouth.

"Uh, Mai class doesn't start for another hour," Chie sighed casually.

"Huh…" Mai said as her bag fell to the floor.

"I guess things went by a lot faster than usual this morning since Mikoto was missing this morning," Mai said smiling embarrassed.

"Huh, Mikoto went missing? So did Nao," Aoi said in astonishment, remembering that her roommate was also missing this morning.

"Really?" Mai asked shocked.

"Hmm this is an interesting situation," Chie broke in excited, "two girls, renowned for skipping class waking up early on the first day of school. I smell gossip."

"Maybe they are just growing up, it is both of their first days of high school," Mai said thinking.

"I doubt it, something big must be going down," Chie said grinning excitedly.

"Actually I saw Nao under a tree outside of my window this morning," a voice came from behind them.

"Good morning Akane," Mai greeted as a girl with a tiny brown ponytail jogged up to them.

"Good morning," Akane said catching her breathe.

"Hold on, back up a little. What was Nao doing under the tree?" Chie asked leaning toward Akane.

"Uh, I think she was texting someone," Akane replied.

Mai sighed placing her hand on her head, "Crap, not again, that girl…"

A suspicious look appeared on Chie face. "Hmm…" she muttered leaning toward Mai, "What did you just say?" "Uh, nothing," Mai replied shaking her hands violently, _Not as if she would even care if I said something. _

"Come on, you know something don't you," Chie said leaning closer, her smile widening.

"Oh, I have to go meet Kazu," Akane said running off, "bye!"

* * *

"Ah… I'm late!" Arika cried. Her long brown ponytails waved behind her as she ran toward the gates to the dorms. The man at the station had told her that classes at Fuuka would be starting in half an hour, so she had run all the way from the station. As she ran toward through the gate she skidded to a stop. She had heard something weird. It sounded like music but it didn't sound like it came from any instrument she had heard before. It sort of resembled the sound of a flute, but just barely. The sound was coming from a patch of trees nearby. As Arika moved toward the trees the sound stopped and she could hear the sound of a girl's voice. 

"It worked, it work! Just you wait. No one tries to steal my Onii-chan, especially some second year middle school brat! It's bad enough…"

"Um, could you tell me which one of the buildings is the female dorm?" Arika asked looking around the tree at the girl, who had long dull red hair kept in four pigtails. She was wearing a gold high school uniform, and was hiding something what looked like a stick with strange markings behind her back.

"Did you hear?" the girl asked sweating bullets. Her voice was full of fear.

"Yes," Arika replied shaking her head.

"Really?" the girl asked examining the pink top and white pants she was wearing. "You don't go to this school do you?"

"Well…" Arika began as the girl took a huge sigh of relief. "How fortunate," the girl said turning around, "Then I'll send you to hell!"

"Eep," Arika whimpered as she turned and ran. Her first day here and already someone wanted to kill her. _What kind of people go to this school? _She thought looking back at the girl who was charging behind her. As she turned the corner to run to one of the dorms, she tripped on something and fell into a nearby bush. When she looked up she saw a girl with cherry red hair sitting under a large tree rapidly typing on an open cell phone in her hand. _I must have tripped over her leg, _Arika thought noticing the girl's legs were stretched in the middle of the walkway.

"Where is she!" the girl who was chasing her yelled angrily, coming to a stop. She suddenly became calm noticing the girl under the tree. "Oh, if it isn't Nao Yuuki," she said casually to the girl who was texting under the tree.

"Oh, it's only you Octopus head," the girl replied standing up. Her poise was one of confidence and arrogance.

"STOP CALLING ME THAT!" the girl yelled angrily.

"Then stop calling me by my full name," Nao replied casually, "Anyway what do you want Shiho?"

"Uh, I'm looking for someone who ran this way. Did you see her?" Shiho asked.

"Hmm, I think she… no," Nao replied smiling wickedly.

"Why you…" Shiho grumbled stomping down the path.

"You do go to this school don't you? First day?" Nao asked as Arika crawled out of the bush.

"Well, yeah," she replied brushing herself off, "Thank you!"

"Let me guess, you're looking for the entrance to the girl's dorm right?" Nao asked flipping her phone close, "Just go back the way came until you reach the edge of this building, and then walk all the way around until you see a door."

"Thank you!" Arika relied running down the path.

_Stupid girl,_ Nao thought as she walked off looking at the entrance two meters in front of her.


	2. Chap 2: School Begins

Notes:

RA- Resident Assistant.  
the bold italics at the end of paragraph 10 was meant to be written in a smaller text to indicate a whisper.  
Pairs are pretty much mentor and mentee. Kind of like the Onee-sama system from Mai Otome.  
The stadium Chie mentions is the one from the manga.

* * *

Vice Principle's office 

The sun shone brightly through the large windows onto the empty desk in front of them. The quiet room was casually decorated with a small bookcase along the right wall, and a light purple couch along the left wall with a small, glass coffee table in front of it. In the middle of the room were three wooden chairs set up in a sort of semicircle just in front of the desk. In the middle chair sat a girl with thick black pigtails wearing a white, blue collared shirt and blue skirt (the standard middle school uniform).

The expression on her face was bleak, one of regret, one of shame for what she had down. In her own eyes she deserved the harshest punishment that the school could offer, and why not? _If only I had been paying more attention instead of staring you… _she thought holding a silver rectangular locket, which hung loosely around her neck, in her hand. She would suffer and she would make sure she did herself.

As the door behind her opened the girl quickly stuffed the locket into her shirt and turned to face this year's Student Counsel President as she walked into the room.

"You are Nina Wang right?" the president asked walking up to her flicking her long black hair over her shoulders. The president was the idol of the school. Any guy would kill to go out with her, even though she didn't seem really interested in men. Her uniform was the standard high school one, with the exception of the light tan vest which identified her as the president and the hooded shirt she had always worn since coming to Fuuka.

"I'm sorry! I'm really sorry!" Nina cried kneeling in front of the surprised president, "Whatever punishment you have in mind I'll take it one hundred fold!"

"Calm down!" the president said putting her hand on the girl's shoulder, "It's not that big of a deal."

"But…" Nina stuttered in shock. She couldn't believe how lenient the president was acting.

"Last time I checked, bumping into someone isn't against the rules," the president said signaling for her to stand up.

"But I caused you spill your drink onto your important papers this morning. For that I…"

"It was only an accident. Plus that's not why I called you here this morning," the president said walking behind the vice principle's desk.

This caught Nina off guard. Why would the president want to speak to her if it wasn't about punishment? Also why would she call her to the vice principles office, instead of the student counsel's board room?

"The real reason I wanted to speak to you was to ask why you had declined to be your class's representative," the president asked nonchalantly sitting in the vice principle's chair, "It's not very often that someone withdraws after winning their class election, fifty five percent right?"

Nina nodded. The president had obviously done her research. "I just thought that Tamoe Marguerite would do a better job," Nina lied; in a way she knew the president knew that she had too. But she couldn't let her know why, she couldn't let anyone know.

"Really? Ok fine, I guess I can't force you," the president replied opening the laptop on the desk, "I just have one more thing to discuss with you."

Nina was shocked that the president would touch the vice principle's laptop. All sorts of important documents were probably stored on it.

"I was wondering if you do anything special after school," the president said sitting down in the vice principle's chair comfortably.

"Nothing really, I just go back to the dorms and talk to my friends," Nina replied nervously. She had no idea what the president was doing with this line of questioning, but it wasn't making her comfortable.

"Really… nothing else?" the president asked sitting up and leaning forward.

"Nothing," Nina replied trying not to long as uneasy as she was, _Could she know my secret? _

"Ok, then you wouldn't mind helping with a few things after school every now and then would you?" the president continued, leaning back again.

"Sure I guess President Kuga…" Nina replied relaxing again.

"Just Natsuki is fine," the president replied with a smile.

* * *

"See you later!" Aoi called as Chie and Mai walked out of the door, on their way to class. The new student hadn't arrived yet which was fine by her since the longer she took the more class she would get to miss, and she already had no hope of seeing Midori's surprise. So Aoi just took a seat in the small lounge area near the door and flipped on the TV. There wasn't anything on that she was really interested in but she had to do something while she waited. 

In a way she looked forward to giving the tour, and not just because she was going to miss class. Some weird things have happened at Fuuka over the years and she couldn't wait to tell the 'cover up' stories behind them to the new girl. It was going to be enjoyable to watch the new girl's reactions to some of them.

Then again she had a feeling this tour would also cause some problems for her. If things didn't go well and someone mistakes this tour for something else, there would be some major issues she would have to deal with. But she wasn't really worried about that happening; she had already informed everyone who had to know about the tour so everything should be fine. Plus the real person she was worried about was very understanding; it was just that her friend that might cause the trouble. Maybe she was over-thinking things; they were second year middle-schoolers after all. If they couldn't understand…

Her train of thought was interrupted by a girl with long brown pigtails running into the area from the hallway. She didn't recognize the girl and she was too casually to be a student. "Your name wouldn't happen to be Arika would it?" she asked curiously as the girl came to stop in the walkway.

"Yes, Arika Yumemiya," the girl replied.

"Oh, I've been waiting on you. I'm your one woman welcoming committee," Aoi replied giggling.

"Sorry for making you wait," Arika apologized. Her face was full of anticipation, and curiosity. Aoi could tell she was excited to start school, "Oh, it's no trouble at all; you could've taken longer…"

"Huh?" Arika asked curiously.

"Oh nothing. Nice to meet you, I'm Aoi Senoh, your RA for this year," Aoi said clapping her hands together nervously, "I guess I'll show your room now."

* * *

Mai and Chie made their way through the large crowd through the hallway of the school's main building. Most of the students were chatting excitedly about their plans for the year. 

"Chie-senpai!" a short young girl cried running into Chie's body. She had short straight black hair with a short ponytail on the side.

"Good morning Yayoi," Chie said gently placing her hand on the girl head. Behind Yayoi stood a girl with medium length mahogany brown hair with an indifferent look on her face.

"Chie-senpai how is Aoi-senpai this morning?" the girl asked smiling.

"She was a little irritated that she was going to miss the surprise that our class is supposed to have this morning. Other than that she was ok, so don't worry about her Lilie," Chie said smiling.

"So are two this morning?" Mai asked walking over to Lilie.

"We're both doing fine. Just a little shocked though," Yayoi replied looking up at Chie's face, "Nina was called to the vice principle's office this morning. It seemed like she was in trouble."

Chie's eyebrow rose, "Wasn't she number one in your year last year? That's a surprise."

"Yeah, according to her roommate this year's Student Counsel President told her to meet her there," Yayoi continued, "She had been acting a little strange last night too."

Mai was a little surprised, "If Natsuki was behind it, I don't think she was in trouble. I think I saw her eying that girl a few times near the end of last year."

"You think she had an ulterior motive?" Chie asked.

At that moment an excited look appeared on both Yayoi and Lilie's faces.

"Could this mean that the president wants to make Nina her mentee? Neither of them are paired up with anyone right?" Yayoi shrieked clenching her hands together.

"Hmm I always thought Nina would've paired up with Nao-senpai since I've seen them speaking a few times before," Lilie added rubbing her chin, "Speaking of which, aren't you free Mai-senpai?"

The thought had never really crossed Mai's mind. "Yeah I guess so…" she replied mulling it over. It was Mikoto's first year of high school so technically she wasn't paired with anyone.

"Ah, maybe you should try Tamoe, she isn't paired with anyone either," Yayoi suggested excitedly. These words earned her a light punch on the top of her head from Lilie.

"You're forgetting that Tamoe has turned down senpai after senpai. I think she wants to attract someone in particular to be her mentor."

"Either way, class is going to start soon so we have to go," Mai said placing her hand on both of the younger girls' heads.

"Ok, don't you forget the promise you and Aoi-senpai made us Chie-senpai!" Yayoi said running off with Lilie.

Yayoi's words caught Mai's attention. "Promise?"

"I don't know…" Chie began thinking. She really had no clue what Yayoi was talking about, unless… "Aw shit, I forgot we promised to show them the announcer's booth at the stadium during lunch today."

"You mean the one Haruka paid for?" Mai asked.

"Yeah but, I don't know if Aoi will be able to come with us," Chie said scratching her head.

* * *

"Here we are!" Aoi announced as they stopped in front of a white door. Hanging from the door handle was a small sign with the words 'Welcome new roommate!' written on it. 

"Wow, my roommates must be really nice," Arika said reading the sign. "Most of the girls here are," Aoi said removing a small silver key from her pocket and opened the door.

Arika was struck with awe as she entered the large room. There was a set of bunk beds and a single bed in the far right corner with three white dressers at their feet, three desks evenly distributed throughout the room, a small round table in the middle of the room and a small closet-like kitchen on the right wall. There were also two small windows along the far wall and a small bathroom. One of the first things she noticed was her bags which were sitting on the top bunk. Also there was a suit bag and a neatly pressed white and blue middle school uniform hanging in front of the bunk bed with a note attached to it.

"I'll let you get changed now and then I'll show you around the campus, ok?" Aoi said handing her the silver key, "I'll be right down the hall in 501, you can't miss it. See you in a little."

As she left Arika walked over to the beds and read the note attached to the uniform that was hanging up. 'Sorry about going through your bag but, since you were coming in the morning we decided to prepare a uniform for you. Also, we hope you don't mind taking the single bed.' _That was nice, _she thought looking at the uniform, _well, I better get ready._

* * *

"Is this our surprised?" Chie sighed staring at the empty desk at the front of the classroom. No Midori, no nothing. 

"I guess she got lost in her research again…" Mai said from behind her.

"That woman…" a boy with short blond hair sighed as he sat down in the desk next to Mai.

"Oh, Good morning Tate, how are you this morning?" Mai asked amiably, "The new uniform looks good on you."

Tate looked down at his all black uniform with red trim. He still hadn't gotten use to wearing yet, and he really wished he didn't have to wear it. It made him stand out too much. "Fine I guess," he moaned wearily.

"Tired already Mr. Vice President Tate Yuuichi?" Chie smirked, turning around.

He hadn't gotten use to people calling him by the new title either. It was going to take a few more days he figured.

"Oh, you be nice," Mai said trying to hide her smile.

* * *

"So shall we begin?" Aoi asked scanning Arika in her new uniform; it really suited her in her opinion. 

"Sure," Arika replied as the two girls walked down the stairs in front of Aoi's room.

"Oh, before I forget, how did you get in the back of the dorm this morning?" Aoi asked curiously.

"Back of the dorm… wasn't the entrance behind the building the entrance?" Arika asked confused.

"Who told you that?"

"A girl I met outside," Arika replied.

"Did she have medium length, cherry red hair, wearing a high school uniform and texting rapidly on a cell phone?" Aoi inquired curiously.

"Yeah, how did you know?" Arika replied.

"I see you've already met my roommate," Aoi giggled, "Don't think too badly of her, she was unusually nice to you."

That baffled Arika, "That was nice?"

"She didn't send you to the male dorm, did she?" Aoi pointed out.

Arika just stared at the girl in bewilderment.

* * *

Midori's office 

The place was a complete mess. Open books and loose leafs blanketed the entire office. In the middle of the mess sat Midori, head resting on top of papers, asleep. Her blue jacket and red tank top were soaked with sweat. The ponytail, she kept her long red hair in was drenched and spread out over face. She had been up all night deciphering the ancient text which told the many stories of Fuuka's long history. It was all she had researched since college and just recently she had discovered a new story, one she hadn't seen anything like before. It was so unique that she planned to present it to the chairman whenever she discovered all of the facts behind the story. She didn't really know why, but she had a feeling the chairman would be interested in it, even though from what she had deciphered so far it didn't seem very important.

"Midori-chan," Akane's voice came from behind the door.

"Wha… what?" Midori yawned raising her head from the mess. She wiped the drool from her lower lip, and walked to the door, and opened it. "Akane, why are you here?" Midori asked, yawning, "Shouldn't you be in class."

"Midori-chan, I'm in your class…" Akane replied, with an nervous smile on her face, "Shouldn't you be teaching right now?"

"Touché," Midori replied, rubbing her eyes, "Anyway I'll be along in about 5 minutes ok?"

* * *

Arika and Aoi walked along the sidewalk just outside the entrance to dorms, carrying their book bags. As they came close to the main gate to the school Aoi ran ahead and stood facing Arika with a smile on her face. 

"Welcome to Fuuka Academy!" she announced cheerfully.

Arika gazed at the sight behind the gitl. Now she understood why Fuuka had such a good reputation. It was simply amazing. The campus was beautiful. Directly behind Aoi was a huge garden with a long grey pathway surround by evenly cut patches of trees which led to a large brown and white building with a small glass dome-shaped building in front of it.

"Wow!" she cried in excitement.

"You haven't seen anything yet," Aoi said grabbing her by the arm and pulling her down the pathway.


	3. Chap 3: Lunchtime

Notes:

I decided not to give the HiME group a particular name like HiME Rangers, or Anti-Orphan Squad just to leave Arika in the dark about exactly what kind of club it is.

* * *

Aoi and Arika walked through the front building's doors. Directly in front of them was a large circular railing, decorated with colorful ribbons. Arika gazed at the stunning room. It was too beautiful for her to even describe. 

"Well I guess I'll start by telling you about this room," Aoi said walking pass the gaping girl. She stopped at the railing and signaled for Arika to come toward her. "This is Fuuka's wishing well. This is where couples come to wish for long and happy relationships," she explained, "Each of the ribbons tied here represents a couple's wish. It's against the rules to tie ribbons here but, the faculty and student counsel pretty much turn their heads to it." She pointed to a small sign near the end of the railing.

As Arika looked around the railing she noticed a small section where there were only four ribbons evenly spaced out. These ribbons were decorated with fancy designs unlike the other plain one color ribbons. "Is something special about those?" she asked turning to Aoi.

"Those are the wishes of the members of the school's most exclusive club," Aoi explained, "They receive many special privileges."

"Why is it so exclusive?" Arika asked curiously.

"Well… let me put it this way, not just anyone can join; you have to be cut from a certain cloth," Aoi replied. "Wow!" Arika shrieked excitedly. "Yeah, there are only eleven members and most of them are on a special scholarship just for qualifying for membership," Aoi continued, "Ok enough of that, let's go outside so I can show you the athletic facilities."

* * *

Nina sat quietly in her seat while the teacher went through her standard "welcome back" speech with the class. The side of her head rested softly on her hand as she thought over what had happened this morning. She just couldn't figure it out. _What did she really want from me? _The thought had been running through her mind ever since. She didn't know whether the president, rather Natsuki knew her secret, the one she had been hiding since last year, or not. It was really important to Nina that no-one found out about her secret until she had corrected it. No one meant no one, not even her best friend and roommate. She only knew of one other person at Fuuka who knew her secret and it was fairly safe if only that other person knew. She couldn't let anyone else know about it, especially not Natsuki. It made them both alike but also different at the same time. It was this difference that she didn't want anyone to know about; it was too embarrassing. 

"Nina…" she heard someone call her from behind, disrupting her thoughts. She turned her head to see a girl with short blond hair staring at her concernedly. "Is something wrong? I've been calling you for a while now," the girl asked.

"It's nothing Erst," Nina replied calmly.

Erstin knew better that there was something bothering Nina, but she also knew that if the girl was hiding something, it was useless to pursue. So she decided to change the subject. "It looks like we only have one new student this year," she commented pointing to the empty desk behind her.

"Yeah, I guess," Nina replied sitting up, "Looks like Tamoe hasn't come to school yet too."

Erstin turned to look at the empty desk two rows in front of her. She could tell it was Tamoe's because in the adjacent seat sat a girl with long straight auburn-colored hair who constantly looked over at the empty seat. "Yeah, I heard that she wouldn't be back until tomorrow," Erstin smiled. Her smile vanished as the teacher called for silence and Nina returned to her moping position.

* * *

Natsuki sat quietly typing on Shizuru's laptop. "That girl…" she muttered bringing Nina's information up onscreen. She looked up as the door opened and Shizuru walked in, 

"I see you still don't go to class like always." Her tone was cheerful, and her smile was soft and gentle.

"I'm just…" Natsuki began closing the laptop but stopped when Shizuru smiled her down.

"It's ok, I don't mind." There was an awkward air, like always, about the two girls. "Want to go for a walk?" Shizuru asked sweetly.

* * *

Arika and Aoi made their way toward the cafeteria. It was about two and a half hours since they had started their tour and it was almost lunchtime. They had been almost everywhere on the campus and had built up an appetite. 

"That's Fuuka's world famous café," Aoi said pointing at the large building in front of them.

Arika gazed in anticipation, she hadn't eaten since the night before and hunger pains were beginning to develop.

"There shouldn't be anyone in here right now since lunch doesn't begin for a few minutes, but we can still get something to eat now," Aoi said opening the door.

Inside there several rows of long tables, each with ten chairs, in the middle of the room. Along the edges where small circular tables, that could seat four people and on the left wall there was a glass door which led to a balcony where there were more small tables with parasols over them. At the back of the room was the kitchen where the cooks were busy making the final preparations for the quickly approaching lunchtime.

After ordering their food the two girls walked outside onto the balcony and took a seat at a table near the edge. It had a nice view overlooking the school's campus. At that moment they heard the voices of chattering students entering the cafeteria.

"So this is our new hall-mate," Arika heard a girl's voice. She turned to face the orange-haired high school student standing behind her. Next to the girl was a girl with short charcoal black hair.

"Yes, that's her Mai," Aoi said placing some of her stew in her mouth.

"Hi there, my name is Mai Tokiha. Nice to meet you," the orange-head introduced herself.

"Hello my name is Arika Yumemiya," Arika introduced herself.

"Hi, I'm Chie Harada," the girl standing next to Mai said leaning toward her, "I'm the definition of gossip around here, so if there's anything that you want to know feel free to ask me."

"Ok…" Arika said uncomfortably.

"Don't mind her," Mai said sweetly, sitting in the chair next to Arika, "So how do you like Fuuka so far?"

"Everything here is so big and gorgeous. I thought this place was good, but not to this extent," Arika replied. She had already finished her meal.

"My, my you must have been hungry," Aoi commented looking at the girl sip the drink in front of her.

"Yeah, I hadn't eaten since last night. I didn't get a chance to eat this morning since I thought I was late," Arika explained. Not that she could've eaten anyway. She had been too excited to eat.

* * *

The garden was quiet. The only thing that could be heard was the sound of the soft breeze blowing across the pink flowers surrounding a white gazebo. The garden was extravagantly decorated with ficus arches and a fancily designed path which looked like a symbol from above. 

Nina leaned up against one of the gazebo's pillars looking at her phone. After taking a short sigh she dialed on the touch pad and placed the phone to her ear. "Hello," a warm male voice answered on the other side of the line. Nina cheeks began to turn light pink, "Hello father."

"Oh, it's you Nina. I've been meaning to call you to find out how things were going so far," her father replied, "Everything ok?"

Nina's face turned an even brighter shade of pink. Her father seemed worried; something she couldn't allow. "Yes everything is fine, I just wanted talk to you," she replied into the phone.

"That's good…" her father began but she could hear a door opening on the other side of the line.

"Major Wang, the package you were waiting on has arrived," she heard someone say on the other side of the line.

After a short pause she heard her father's voice again. "Sorry Nina but I can't talk with right now. I'll have to talk to you later. Just remember, you've always made me proud."

As she heard the phone hang up on the other end of the line she heard a familiar voice.

"Talking to that old man again?" Nao inquired leaning up against the other side of the pillar. Her tone was full of amusement.

"What do you want?" Nina asked coldly. She made sure not to turn around so that Nao wouldn't see how flushed her face was.

"My, my, is that how you address an old friend from back home, especially one who knows your little secret?" Nao countered playfully.

Nina's faced became even more flushed than before. "Fine, sorry. Did you come to collect on your favor?"

"No, I was just taking a little walk. The way things look I probably won't ever have to collect on that debt. Lucky you," Nao yawned teasingly. She never really planned to make Nina pay her back for keeping the secret unless it was absolutely necessary. For some reason she just enjoyed talking to the young girl.

"Anyway, you have a new roommate this year right? I think I met her this morning. She seems rather clueless," Nao smirked.

Nina seemed slightly interested, "Let me guess…"

"Wrong, I felt like being nice for a change," Nao said playfully inspecting her fingernails.

"You can be nice?" Nina remarked showing a slight smile. "

Well if I'm so mean then maybe I should tell your secret," Nao reminded her.

* * *

Natsuki and Shizuru walked through the shaded path. Natsuki had been unusually quiet since leaving the office which worried Shizuru. She could tell something was bothering her but she didn't know what. "Did you speak to Nina this morning?" Shizuru asked breaking the silence. 

A smile appeared on Natsuki's face. "Yes, she's a little too hard on herself," Natsuki replied.

"Did she tell you…?" Shizuru began but stopped as Natsuki shook her head no. "I see… that's not what is bothering you is it?"

The smile on Natsuki's face vanished and an awkward silence fell among the two again. "I see…" Shizuru muttered softly. She had known from the start that it wasn't that. As she began to ask what was bothering the girl her phone rang.

Fumi's sweet voice came over the line as she put the phone to her ear, "Miss Shizuru, Miss Mashiro would like you sit in the next two meeting she has."

"Ok I'll be right there," she replied closing the phone, "Sorry but I have to go."

"That's ok," Natsuki replied flicking her long black hair behind her shoulder, "I'll just speak to you later."

* * *

It was halfway through lunch. Arika had spent the time asking the four girls questions she had about the school. Some of the answers were nice and clear but others were a little strange. However there was one question she had wanted to ask since the beginning of the tour. 

"What kind of club is that one you told me about earlier?" she asked facing Aoi.

"You should ask Mai, she's a member," the girl replied drinking the last of her stew.

A surprised look appeared on Mai's face, "You mean that club? Well what do you want to know?"

Arika couldn't believe her luck. She already got to meet a member. "Well I was wondering what the club was like," she answered scratching her head.

"Uh, let's see," Mai began thinking, "Well the club doesn't really have a set name per se. We haven't decided on a name yet. Meetings are twice a week, no particular days. We pretty much spend our meetings arguing with each."

Arika's curiosity was struck, "Argue?"

"Yeah, more than half of the club's members don't want to be there so arguments are constantly starting," Mai explained. She seemed annoyed by that fact. "Well, the club consists of eleven members, most of which are high school students. There are two faculty advisers who are both members of the club, and a Fuuka alumnus is also a member. That's pretty much it."

"Aw Mai, you make it sound so boring…" Chie commented leaning her head backwards to see Yayoi and Lilie walking in their direction. _Crap! _ She hadn't spoken to Aoi about their promise yet. This was going to be a problem.

"You ready Chie-senpai, Aoi-senpai?" Yayoi asked walking up to the table. She was beaming with anticipation. Her companion also had a certain delighted aura about her. This made things even harder to deal with than she had anticipated. Things were going to bad; she knew it.

"Yeah, in a moment," Aoi replied flashing a smile. _What the hell! _Chie thought. She was wearing a weak smile on her face.

"First let me introduce you three," Aoi continued walking over to where the two girl were standing. She placed her hand gently on Lilie's shoulder, "Arika this Lilie Adean, she is my mentee, and that is Yayoi Alter, Chie's mentee. You three are all in the same class."

Chie still could figure out what Aoi was getting at. _Doesn't she have to escort her to the Chairman's office? _She thought.

At that moment Tate made his way over to table where the girls were sitting. "Just in time!" Aoi announced as the boy stopped next to table.

"Is she ready? Her meeting starts soon," Tate asked rolling his eyes.

"What's the matter, mad we stole Mai for lunch?" Chie smirked.

"It's nothing like that!" he protested. His turned his head to hide the fact that his face had turned bright pink.

Arika stared at Mai's equally pink face. _They must be a couple._

"Arika, this is the current Student Counsel Vice President Tate Yuuichi," Aoi said pleasantly, "He will be escorting you to your meeting with the chairman."

"Ok," Arika replied noticing the boy staring at her funnily. _What's he looking at?_

"Ok, let's go you three!" Aoi announced signaling for Chie and the two middle school girls to come with her.

_Damn you Aoi! I will definitely get my revenge for making me worry for nothing, _Chie thought standing up.

"We should be going too," Tate said to Arika, "Mai do you want to come too?"

"Sure," Mai replied getting up from the table.

* * *

"Aw you're no fun today," Nao whined playfully. She could tell something was bothering Nina. She wasn't enjoying their conversation as much as she usually did. She was ready to leave the girl alone when she noticed Natsuki walking into the clearing. _This could be interesting._

* * *

Natsuki walked to the edge of the beautiful garden. Her mind was still running through the events of the morning. She really wished Shizuru didn't have to leave; discussing what was bothering her was probably a good idea. Things were a little too weird. 

Ahead of her she noticed Nao leaning up against the gazebo. The girl appeared to be talking to someone, but she couldn't see who it was. As Nao look up at her she could see the girl say something. The way she said it was so clear that Natsuki could read her lips from where she stood, like it was intentional. She had said…

* * *

"Nina," Noa called from behind the pillar. 

"What?"

"Nothing…" the girl replied teasingly. Something about Nao calling her made her uncomfortable but, she didn't know why. Things were awkward. She didn't know if her secret was out yet, and if it was who knew. "Nao …" she began but was cut off by a loud cry from the forest surrounding the clearing.


	4. Chap 4: First Dance

_

* * *

Damnit, _Natsuki thought hearing the loud otherworldly cry ring in her ears. It couldn't have come from any type of creature on Earth and it definitely wasn't human. The only other thing it could have been was… but it was impossible, there hadn't been any of them at Fuuka for over a year. If it was what she thought it was, then how could it have appeared? There wasn't a Princess Star in the sky, as far as she could see. Also why hadn't the chairman told them about there being another star? _Could it be that even she doesn't know? _No, that was impossible, as the former leader of First District she had to know everything about the Princess Star and the HiME carnival. Either way whatever it was, one thing was certain; it sounded angry, and it bothered her. If the orphans had begun to appear again for whatever reason, then dealing with them was going to be a much tougher than before.

"Orphan…" Nina shouted running around the pillar to face Nao, who didn't seem bothered at all.

"What are you looking at me for?" the cherry-head asked relaxed, "I have no interest in these kinds of things…"

"But…" Nina muttered looking up at the older girl. She knew it was just like the older girl to say such things but, still at a time like this it wasn't funny.

"What? Why should I waste my time? I have better things to d," Nao smirked placing her index finger on Nina's head. "Why don't you destroy it, little HiME?"

Nina growled in frustration, "Fine!" Pleading with Nao was pointless; she was going to have to do this on her own.

* * *

Arika and her two escorts walked down the concrete pathway that led to the Chairman's office. There was an uncomfortable silence between the two high school students. Both seemed to refuse to look at each other. 

From where she stood Arika could see that both of them were blushing violently. Their relationship fascinated her. Either they had issues, or they were really shy around each other. She figured it was most likely the latter or a mixture of the two. Then again what did she know about love? She had never felt like those two probably felt about each other. She had never fallen in love with anyone, the only thing she knew about it was what her grandmother had told her.

"Uh, Tate…" Mai began to break the silence but was interrupted.

"Mr. Vice President!" a boy with short brown hair called running up to them from behind. His uniform was all white with a green band around his arm identifying him as a prefect. "Mr. Vice President we have a situation in the main building. Suzushiro is having a fit over the ribbons again," the boy continued.

"On the first day of school? That woman… why doesn't she just go off to college already?" Tate sighed, "Just get Yukino to deal with it…"

"That's the problem, she's nowhere to be found," the prefect explained, "And well… all of the prefects are too afraid of that woman to try anything themselves."

"Shit… fine I guess I'll have to deal with this," Tate sighed annoyed. Haruka Suzashiro was definitely going to be a problem this year. He had meant to speak to Natsuki about how they were going to deal with the woman. They couldn't do anything directly because she had donated so much to the school after she graduated. But there had to be a way. "Could you show her the rest of the way Mai?" Tate asked running behind the boy.

"Sure," Mai replied turning her head again.

The two girls watched as the boys ran back toward the school. Mai was a little disappointed to see Tate leave but she knew it was part of his job, so it didn't bother her too much. "Shall we?" she said turning to Arika. The moment she spoke those words she heard a loud crunching sound. _It couldn't be… _she thought as a large flock of black birds flew over the canopy of the trees in front of them.

"Arika stay here, it isn't safe!" Mai shouted running toward where the birds had come from.

_What's going on? _Arika thought watching the older girl leave her behind. And where were those birds coming from? She had never seen anything like it before. It was amazingly beautiful. She had to get a closer look even though Mai had told her to stay put. Something was going on at this school, she could tell from Aoi's tour. There were too many strange stories explaining restricted areas and buildings. Not to mention her mother went to this school. If she was going to find out about her mother, she had to know about the school as well.

* * *

Natsuki watched as Nina ran from where Nao stood into the bushes. She hadn't heard their conversation but, she had a feeling she knew the jist of it. Nina was definitely like her, she was a HiME. She had known about it for a while now from back when she first met the girl. The thing what puzzled her was why the girl wanted to keep it a secret. It was common knowledge that most of the girls at Fuuka wanted to be a HiME, there were way too many perks not to. Personally Natsuki didn't like the idea of being one herself. After all the shit she had to deal with, the perks seemed minuscule. 

"Aren't you going to watch?" Nao asked walking over to where she stood. She had her usually bored expression on her face.

"How long did you known that I knew about her?" Natsuki asked impatiently. She wasn't in the mood to have to deal with the redhead. She had too much on her mind.

"My, my, you are as clear as glass," Nao snickered, "I never said anything about that. I just wanted to have some fun."

Natsuki squeezed her fist in frustration. She couldn't believe she fell into the girl's trap. "What about you? You seem interested in that girl,"

"My interests are my own. Not yours…" the redhead replied walking past her.

Nao hadn't changed one bit but, Natsuki was more worried about Nina. This was more than likely the girl's first battle with an orphan and it might not go well. If something went wrong, she might get injured or worst…

* * *

Mashiro sighed as she rest her teacup down on the table next to an empty white plate. The morning had been a real rough one. Even without the incident with Nagi, she doubted that she would be in a better condition. The meetings so far were worst than she had expected. Most of them had gone longer than they were supposed to, and none had gone well at all. But that was going to be her fate for the time being and she just had to accept it. Her last one was by far the worst, which actually turned out to be a blessing in disguise. A meeting with the parents of an elementary school student had broken out into a loud verbal fight between the man and woman over the poor child's future at the school. Mashiro was way too tired at that point to make any sort of attempt to break it up, giving her time to think about what had happened earlier. 

Nagi was definitely up to something. She could tell just because he had visited her. He hadn't said much other than his question, something that he didn't really need to ask; he should've known the answer. It was almost as if he wanted her to know something she didn't know about was going happen, which was weird. Nagi was… eccentric to put it nicely but, even for him these actions were strange. And what of the Obsidian Lord? He had clearly been defeated over a year ago and even if he was still alive, he shouldn't be able to act so soon. No matter how she looked at it, she just couldn't make sense of Nagi's words.

"Miss Mashiro, are you finished yet?" Fumi asked entering the office.

"Yes, has Shizuru arrived as yet?"

"No ma'am, she should be arriving shortly though," the maid replied picking up the empty dish from the table.

As the pink-haired woman left the room, Mashiro eyed her carefully. She still hadn't decided whether or not to fill her in about what happened. Fumi had been her faithful maid and she knew she could trust the woman but she also didn't want to burden her, the burden she had borne was already too great. The woman had treated her like a princess, even through the chaos of one year ago, something Mashiro was in great debt to her for. The last thing she wanted to do was make her worry; in a way this was her atonement for allowing the woman to take such care of her.

Whether or not she was going to mention the event to anyone else at the moment was another story. She also didn't want to trouble a particular group of girls either, especially after the trouble they had faced in the past. In a way it was partly her fault they had suffered such heartache. She had to think this through first. Too much was on the line to start off with the wrong moves but she didn't know what to do. Keeping it to herself could already be a wrong move. Also how long could she keep quiet before she had to tell everything? Probably not long.

This was proving to be too stressful for her today but she had to think it through now. Something told her that the next meeting might be connected to it. The situation the next student was in was not only suspicious but also quite a rare one. She had received a letter from an unknown person explaining the girl's situation along with enough money for the year's fees. It wasn't everyday for a child to be in a position to attend Fuuka under the financial care of someone they had never met. If she didn't know better she would've thought that Nagi was the person behind it, but the boy wouldn't be able to get that kind of money at the moment. So it had to be someone else, but who and are they in some way connected to whatever what was going on?

Even with these suspicions, she still had to meet with the girl. Being in the situation she was in, the girl probably didn't have any money. Sure her fees were paid but there was no way she would be able to survive without some money in her pocket for outside expenses like shopping, food etc. Mashiro had decided to offer the girl a small scholarship to help her out with these expenses. It wasn't going to be much, just enough so that the girl would be able to live comfortably while she attended Fuuka.

"Miss Mashiro the vice principle has arrived again," Fumi's voice came from the other room.

"Ok, send her in please."

* * *

Nina hopped over some fallen branches as she made her way through the wood. Her heart was racing with excitement and fear. This was going to be the first orphan she ever fought and she was going to have to do it alone. She was also worried that someone would see. If that happened, her secret might come out. Sure she had been training over the break, but she still wasn't sure she could beat it and if she took to long… No she couldn't think like that. _I will beat it._

As she came upon a clearing she got her first sight of the large, black, insect-like creature. It was like nothing she had ever seen before. As tall as the trees surrounding the clearing, its body was segmented into three parts and was covered with thin hair stubbles. It had three sets of green dagger-like eyes in the center of its head surrounded by three pieces of protruding triangular flesh which all came together as a two pronged crown on top of its head. Sizzling green acid oozed from its segmented mouth onto its two sets of arms; two with long sharp blades at their tips and two with large pincer-like appendages.

Nina swallowed hard as the creature turned its head to face her. She lost even more confidence in herself but she had to at least try to fight it. If she didn't, Nao wouldn't let her hear the end of it. She had to…

Before she could finish her thought the orphan took a large leap into the air aimed at her. She had barely jumped out of the way before it landed. The force from its six razor sharp legs slamming into the ground was enough to knock her off her balance sending her rolling across the grass. Before she could get completely to her feet one of the orphan's pincers shot toward her. This time she managed to flip backward before it hit her.

"Bastard!" she muttered placing her arms in front of her, ready to fight. A pale green gust began to twirl underneath each of her palms forming two black sai-like elements. _It's now or never! _she thought as one of the orphan's blade arms came directly toward her. She ducked slightly, just enough to avoid it and swung her left sai violently severing the creatures arm. Nina followed it up by jumping over the creature's desperate attack and slicing into one of its shoulders, nearly removing it. _Hah this is too easy!_

* * *

Natsuki watched from the bushes as the orphan let off a loud streak of pain. The girl was doing surprisingly well for her first time but, she seemed to be getting overconfident in her abilities. Sure she was clearly winning, but if she didn't finish it off soon it could cost her, her life. 

"Natsuki…?" a familiar female voice came from behind her.

"Mai, what are you doing here?" Natsuki asked turning to face the orange-head.

"I heard a loud cry come from around here. That girl is a HiME, right?" Mai said looking past her at Nina who busy blocking a sudden barrage of violent swings from the orphan.

"Yes," Natsuki answered turning back around.

"Well… aren't you going to help her?" Mai asked annoyed staring down the brunette.

"No…" her voice was cold and direct, "You shouldn't either. It would crush that girl to find out that we know about her secret. I'll only interfere if it's absolutely necessary."

"Natsuki…" Mai muttered, her eyes locked on the back of her friends head. Obviously she saw something in that girl; something she wanted to nurture, even though she probably wouldn't admit it.

* * *

Nina grunted as the orphan continued its fury. It had suddenly gotten a lot more aggressive after almost losing a second arm, which had already healed. Its desperation was becoming more and more difficult for her to handle. If she didn't do something soon, she definitely was going to lose more than the fight.

* * *

Pant, pant Arika raced through the trees in front of her until she came upon the large clearing. She couldn't believe what she was seeing. It looked as if a girl around her age was fighting with some sort of creature, but that couldn't be. Monsters weren't real; at least that's what she had been told all of her life.

* * *

"Natsuki…" Mai stuttered as Nina was knocked to the ground by one of the creature's blows. 

Slowly the girl tried to get back to her feet. _Not yet… _Natsuki thought. She knew the girl was hurt badly, but to interfere now would be the same as doing it at the beginning, maybe even worst. It was eating away at her; she wanted to help but not at the expense of the girl's pride.

Nina struggled to get to one knee. She had taken a real beating. _If only I had a… _she began to think as the orphans shadow completely shaded her body from the sun. It was going to finish her now and there wasn't anything she could do about it. As the creature's remaining three arms all came down toward her, she closed her eyes and accepted her fate.

The force of the orphan's attack violently disturbed the earth creating a large cloud of dust. Nina could feel dust particles bombarding against her cheeks. Her body was in motion. She could feel an unknown person's warm touch against her shoulder and chest; someone had saved her.

* * *

Arika slid under the creature's body holding the fallen girl's body in her arms. She didn't know why she had done what she did; her body just reacted. Her vision was clouded by the surrounding dust, but at least they had avoided the attack.

* * *

Mai and Natsuki watched as the two girls slid out of the cloud of dust coming to a stop just behind the orphan. 

"What's she doing here?" Mai gasped looking at the girl she had left behind.

"Do you know her?" Natsuki asked turning around. Her face was full of relieve.

"That doesn't matter right now, we have to go!" Mai's voice was full of concern. She had to do something.

"R…" Natsuki began to speak turning back around. They were going to be able to make it. The orphan had already recovered and was in the middle of launching another attack.

* * *

Arika face lit with fear as the creature's arm came toward her. She couldn't move, she was too scared to. She let off a loud scream that echoed throughout the forest.

* * *

"Arika!" Mai cried as the creature's attack flew toward the girls. What happened next was beyond belief. 


	5. Chap 5: Shock, Surprise and Strange

Notes:

Yay my first OC makes an appearance in this chapter. Oh and I made Miyu the head because I don't think anyone would trust Nao with the position lol.

* * *

"Can I get you anything, Ms. Fujino?" Fumi asked as she led the auburn-haired girl into Mashiro's quarters for the second time today, "Cakes, coffee, tea…?" 

"Just tea should be fine, thank you," Shizuru replied slightly distracted, but still politely. She had Natsuki on the mind. The girl was definitely worried about something, but what? Not knowing was really worrying her. If something was bothering Natsuki, she wanted to do everything possible to help her.

Mashiro sat watching Shizuru quietly. She could tell something was bothering the woman, but she had her own concerns to worry about at the moment. It was time to get down to business, "I'm sure you are wondering why I asked you here."

"Oh… yes," Shizuru replied snapping out of thought.

"Well, my next meeting is with a girl who is in a rather unusual situation," Mashiro began closing her eyes, "She has no parents, no family at all."

"I see… How can she afford to attend Fuuka?"

"That's what is unusual about her situation. Her fees are being paid for by an unknown individual. I received this letter informing me," Mashiro continued offering the envelope.

Shizuru quickly read the letter, "Hmm that is strange. So you want me to know about this to avoid any confusion in the future?"

"Correct," Mashiro answered immediately.

"I see…" Shizuru whispered eying the purple-haired girl carefully. She knew that was a lie. The chairman had answered way too quickly, almost as if she was looking for an excuse. "Well what about the other meeting?"

An embarrassed look appeared on the chairman's face, "It's with Haruka Suzashiro. Due to her recent contributions to the school, my hands are tied to offer her a job."

Shizuru peered at the chairman slightly amused, "What does that have to do with me?"

"You see… I was hoping that you would take her on as your assistant."

"Do you really think that is a good idea?" In truth Shizuru didn't have a problem with the idea. For one she could use the help, and even though Haruka was out to get her in anything they did, the girl could really work hard.

Mashiro answered the question with a simple pleasant smile.

* * *

Nina slowly opened her eyes, as her body came to a stop, and looked up into the deep blue eyes of her savior. She had never seen the girl before, but she wore a middle school uniform like hers so she had to be a student. She didn't know why the girl had saved her. Getting involved in such a situation without a way to defend yourself was a death wish and Nina couldn't save her in her current state. _What was she thinking? _As she thought this the girl let off a loud scream of terror. Nina gasped weakly as, for only one second, a pale blue glint flashed on the girl's shirt. _What was that? _Maybe her eyes were playing tricks on her since everything was going black again, she didn't really know. 

Arika screamed as the creature's bladed arm flew toward her. As much as she wanted to move, she couldn't; her body was frozen stiff. All she could do was cower in fear as certain death approached her; however death seemed to be taking too long to reach her. The only thing she heard was the loud sound of something heavy crashing into the ground behind her. As she looked up, the sight of the creature's blade lying on ground greeted her with shock.

"What the hell just happened?" Mai asked in shock. She had clearly seen the orphan's arm bend at the elbow and separate, almost as if it was cut.

"Take a closer look…" Natsuki said pointing at the creature's back. On it, hands to her sides, knelt Nao as red razor thin threads danced around her and the orphan's bodies.

The creature whelped in pain as it retracted its severed arm back towards its body. The cut was clean, not a single serrated edge could be seen. Furiously, it shot its remaining two arms up at the cherry-haired girl, who jumped out of the way before they could connect. The red threads danced around the orphan's arms and pulled them down behind the head while Nao's body swung down toward the chest. Her feet met with the creature's abdomen for no more than a second before pushing off, yanking hard on the red threads trailing from her fingers. Each of them went through the orphan's body like it was nothing.

Arika watched as the girl landed in front of her. Behind her the creature's body fell apart and exploded. The force from the blast gently brushed her cherry red hair in front of her face. She could now clearly see the long red claw-like appendages jotting out of what looked like grey metal finger-gloves. What was that girl; there was no way she could've done such a thing. And what was that weapon she was using? She had never seen anything like it before.

After the flames from the explosion began to disappear Nao looked up at the bright blue eyed girl holding Nina's unconscious body. She blinked blankly a few times before smiling a wicked smile, "Did you find the entrance this morning?"

Arika desperately wanted to pout at the girl's taunt but couldn't. She too shock by what she had seen to change her expression.

Nao's eyes moved to Nina, still in the arms of Arika. The girl had really taken a beating, and she would definitely be angry when she woke up. "My, you're not in the best of shape, are you? You could've done better than that," she teased cockily placing her index finger between the girl's eyes after her claws dematerialized, "… but you did ok, I guess, wouldn't you say so Natsuki, Mai?" When she finished her statement she laid back in the grass and looked up at Natsuki who was standing over her.

"What a surprise, I never thought I would ever hear you compliment someone," Natsuki said staring down at the girl.

"Heh, I pay compliments to those who deserve them," Nao smirked at the brunette. All of a sudden her expression changed, it became more serious. "Tell the truth, do you think that was the best she could do?" her tone had lost all of the usual condescendence.

"Actually no. She seemed too concerned with other things," Natsuki sighed. She really hated to admit the girl was right. Judging from what she had seen Nina do at the beginning of the fight, the girl should've been able to defeat the orphan with ease. "I'm going to have to do something about that…"

Nao's eyebrow rose, "I see… so that's your goal." It was obvious to her that Natsuki wanted to train Nina or something. Why… she didn't really know, but things would definitely be interesting for her as a result.

"My intentions are my own, right?" Natsuki mocked putting on one of Nao's typical grins, "But more importantly, why was that orphan here?"

* * *

Nagi pulled his blue book from his nose as he sat up on his tree branch. He had been watching the incident intently from the beginning and he was slightly disappointed. "Aw… I thought she would've done better than," he whined to himself, "That girl will definitely have to do better next time." 

As he began to raise his hand to get the group's attention, the cold touch of a black netted leather glove on his shoulder got his attention. He turned to face the pale white little girl who stood on the branch behind his. Her hair was as white as her skin, a complete contrast to the all black dress she had on. Under her left arm was a large black ball in the shape of a cat's head.

"Nie-chan, you know better, I hope I won't have to punish you before I'm done," her voice was low but playful and a faint smirk appeared on her face.

"Ah, right I'm sorry," Nagi smiled back, "You're always so mean to me,"

The grin on the girl's face spread wider as she removed the ball from under her arm and held it in both hands. "I wouldn't if you would stop being a bad boy," the girl replied as she gently bounced it off the pale blue-haired boy's head and giggled.

"My, my you're so violent today," he responded rubbing his forehead.

The girl just smiled playfully at him, "I'm leaving now. Be a good boy, ok? I'll be watching."

"Yes ma'am," Nagi teased as the girl dissipated in front of him. He looked back at where the five girls were. "The fun is just beginning for you all…" he sighed raising the book back to his face.

* * *

There was an awkward silence between the three girls. Neither of them had the slightest clue what the answer to Natsuki's question was. 

"Well whatever, it really doesn't interest me…" Nao commented, back in her usually demeanor.

Mai looked over at Natsuki for a second before she realized that Arika was still holding the black-haired girl's body. She knew Nina through Yayoi and Lilie, but she never would've thought the girl was a HiME. Then again, Natsuki's interest in the girl was now clear. She had noticed the girl watching Nina every now and then during the latter part of the last school year. It had struck her as weird, but she had left it alone.

"Are you ok, you are not hurt are you?" she asked as she knelt next Arika.

Arika shook her head; her expression didn't change one bit though.

"Thank goodness!" Mai took a deep breath, "Eh?"

Arika had risen to her feet and began to walk over to where Nao was laying.

"What?" the red-head asked as the blue eyed girl look down at her.

"That was so cool!" Arika cried all of a sudden, the excitement overwhelming her. The girl's display of power and grace was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen.

"I don't need you to tell me that…" Nao scoffed rolling to her feet, "I'm out of here, you guys are beginning to bore me." After taking one last look at Nina, she turned and walked away. "For now I'll leave her to you Natsuki. Oh and make sure she knows that she now owes me two favors," she called back, disappearing into the trees.

"Don't misunderstand her. She doesn't mean you any hostility," Natsuki said to Arika, whose face was as blank as freshly cut paper. Her focus then turned back to Nina, who was lying unconscious on the ground. She was glad the girl was ok, but she couldn't figure her out. It was pointless to ask Nao, the red-head would only laugh in her face. "I'll carry her to see Ms. Sagisawa, just to make sure she isn't badly injured," she said kneeling and hoisting the girl onto her back, "…and Mai, can we talk sometime tomorrow?"

"Sure," Mai replied as Natsuki walked off carrying Nina, "We should get going too. You're already late for your meeting."

Arika shook her head lightly.

* * *

"Erst," a voice called from behind as Erstin walked back toward the school. Lunchtime was over and she hadn't seen Nina at all. She turned to face the older girl with a short brown ponytail walking in her direction. "How have you been? I haven't seen you in a while," 

"Akane-senpai! I've been great, what about you? I've missed you," Erstin replied blushing slightly. She hadn't seen Akane since before the break. The girl had been a good mentor last year, something she couldn't be happier about. Akane had taken exceptional care of her; always checking up on her, always helping her, always worrying about her. Not to mention they had a lot in common. Both were somewhat shy, even though you wouldn't be able to tell if you saw the older girl with her boyfriend. But with Erstin it was more noticeable.

"I'm doing fine, just a little upset Kazu had to run off on student counsel business," Akane answered with a smile. She froze when she noticed the smile on the blond's face disappear, "Something wrong Erst?"

"I'm a little worried about Nina," Erstin replied honestly, "I think something is bothering her, but she doesn't want to talk about it."

"I see…" Akane whispered thinking for a second, "I'm sure she's fine. This is Nina we're talking about." She stepped forward and gave the younger girl a hug.

"Yeah, you're right…" Erstin said looking down at the ground.

Akane could tell she had only decreased her mentee's worries, but that would have to do for now. "Oh, have you met your new roommate yet?"

"No not yet. She was supposed to arrive this morning, so I guess I'll meet her later today."

* * *

The sound of birds chirping echoed through the tiny chapel area of the small church. Inside there was a group of five girls who were just leaving. They had come to pray and to receive advice from the current head nun, but to their dismay she wasn't there. The only person who was present was a short little girl, with blond hair wrapped in a black ribbon, who stood behind the podium on the stage. She was pretty well known, as the girl with the most beautiful voice in school. It was a rarity to see her by herself, since she was normally assisted by the head nun and they pretty much seemed inseparable. But today was a little different. 

"Sorry to bother you Alyssa," one of the girls called back as they exited through the main door.

Really the girls hadn't been a bother at all. She had enjoyed singing for them as a sort of alternative for Miyu's absence. Singing was one of her favorite pastimes, and she probably would've ended up doing all of lunchtime anyway.

After the girls had left, Alyssa got up and made her way to a door on the far end of the stage. Behind the door was set of stone stairs that led down to the caverns. As she descended her thoughts fell to Miyu's absence. She was probably was taking her time coming back which was unusual. The task she had asked her to do shouldn't have been so much trouble that it would take the entire lunch period to complete. Well unless something went wrong, but the likelihood of that was minuscule, after all it was Miyu. When she came to the bottom of the stairs she noticed a flashing red light coming from the top of a black earpiece lying on a small table.

"Hello," Alyssa spoke into the mike.

"Ah, finally you've picked up. Has the mission been accomplished yet?" the voice was a feminine one. It was also a very familiar one to Alyssa as well.

"Not yet, Miyu hasn't returned as yet,"

"I see, please inform me when she returns,"

"Right mama…"

* * *

Natsuki looked over her shoulder at Nina's unconscious face. The girl's soft, warm breath on her hair was becoming both soothing and uncomfortable at the same time. As she looked Nao's words came back to her. _"For now I'll leave her to you Natsuki."_ Leave it to Nao to make it seem like she was doing her a favor. 

Nina slowly began to come to again. This time she didn't have enough strength to open her eyes, but she could feel and hear everything around her. She could hear the scraping of footsteps on the grass and she could tell someone was carrying her. She wasn't conscious enough to figure out who it was, but for some reason she felt unusually comfortable.

Natsuki flinched as her passenger's arms moved up to embraced her neck. It was a good sign that the girl wasn't too far gone, but the embrace was a little shocking.

* * *

"So you really want to know about what just went on?" Mai sighed looking down at the excited girl. Maybe she wasn't the best person to explain it. Off course she could give an account, a damn good one at that of what happened during her freshman year of high school, but to explain things was a different story. 

"Yes… Is everybody that goes here like that… and what was that creature?" Arika shook her head.

"Well… do you remember that club you asked about earlier? That club is for a special group of girls called HiME,"

"HiME?"

"Yeah, each HiME has the ability to create, rather materialize a weapon called an element. You did see those weird figure gloves Nao was wearing right?"

"You mean the redhead?" Arika bit her fingernail trying to remember, "Yeah I saw them."

"Well those were her element. Additional to elements, each HiME is protected by a guardian called a child."

"Child?"

"Uh… well a child is like…" Mai began but stopped when she noticed a girl with short silver hair walking toward them, "Miyu?" The very first thing she noticed about the girl was her vacant shoulder.

"Good afternoon Mai…"

Mai could pick up the usual coldness in the girl's voice as she walked by. The only time she had seen Miyu loose her coldness was whenever she was around Alyssa, who was coincidently absent. She watched as the silver-haired girl eyed Arika for a second.

"Good morning Arika Yumemiya…"


	6. Chap 6: The Visit

* * *

Mai froze as the silver-haired girl called Arika by her name. _How does she know her? _The girl had only arrived at the school today and she had spent most of it with Aoi. Also Miyu hadn't been absent either, so there was no possible way for them to have met. Could she have done research on Arika? But why would she of all people be interested in Arika. What was going on? 

Arika watched as the mysterious girl walked passed her and Mai. She had never seen the girl before in her life, but somehow she knew her by name. "Who was that?" she asked the older Mai curiously.

"So you don't know her… her name is Miyu. She's a little different from everyone else who goes here," Mai replied scratching her head.

"You mean like you and that girl?" Arika asked timidly.

"Uh… yes, and no…" that was only way Mai could think of answering the question. It was a little difficult to explain Miyu, especially since she didn't know the specifics about the girl herself. "Anyway here we are."

Arika stared at the white two story building in front of her. It was probably the only thing Aoi hadn't shown her on the tour. At the top of a small set of stairs stood a woman wearing a pink maid's uniform with pink hair. The expression she wore on her face was a happy one.

"Ah Miss Mai, did you escort Miss Arika all the way here even though classes will be started soon?" Fumi smiled pleasantly at the two girls.

"Yes, actually I was hoping to speak with the chairman briefly before the meeting," Mai replied, "It's very important."

"I don't see why not; just let me ask Miss Mashiro first."

* * *

Midori slowly raised her head from the small grey table. Without even realizing it, she had fallen asleep during her usual lunchtime routine. All of her research was really beginning to affect the amount of sleep she got at night. It seemed as if every time she began to decipher the current story she was working on, she couldn't put it down. She didn't really know why. The story itself didn't seem very interesting and it wasn't very eventful either. As a matter of fact nothing out of the ordinary seemed to be happening in it. But for some reason she was being drawn into it, probably due to its plainness. So far it had been a direct contrast to all of the other stories she had deciphered before. In a way, it was _too_ uneventful. Something important had to have happened for it to have been recorded which is why she was holding off presenting it to the chairman until it was completely deciphered. 

"Ah so you're awake," a familiar feminine voice came from behind her.

For a second Midori had forgotten that she was in the nurse's office, "Being a burden on you again?"

"Of course, but I've been use to it since college," the dark purple-haired woman replied sliding the curtain behind Midori open. She wore a long white lab coat over a blue mid-drift tang top, and long grey pants.

"Don't say it like that Yoko…"

"Why not when it's true," she smiled, "Either way want to go out drinking tonight?"

"Is that all you think about?"

"I just feel like celebrating. Besides it's the perfect way to hear about your vacation."

"I told you already that I spent it conducting research on Fuuka," Midori sighed.

"So you're telling me you flew all the way back to America to do research on this place?" Yoko eyed her impliedly.

"Shut up," Midori muttered cutting her eye at the woman.

Yoko giggled at her friend, "Well shouldn't you be going now, classes are about to start."

"Sure whatever," a yawn escaped Midori's mouth as she rose to her feet and headed toward the door. But before she could get there it opened and Natsuki walked in with a middle school student on her back.

* * *

Alyssa turned around at the sound of footsteps coming down the stone staircase. She had been busy writing down the lyrics to a song she was working on. One she was planning to sing for a special audience whenever she got the chance. 

"Little Miss I've returned," Miyu's voice came from the bottom of the stone stairway, "The mission was successful. Shall I escort you to class now?"

"In a moment," Alyssa said picking up the communicator and placing it to her ear. "Mission accomplished," she spoke into the microphone.

After a few seconds the female voice responded, "That's good, now we'll be able to move on to step two."

"How long do you think we have before they start to act?" Alyssa asked.

"More than enough so don't worry," the woman answered gently.

"Understood," Alyssa responded, "And what are you going to do about…?" Her question was cut of by the woman.

"I'll handle her in my own way, understand?"

"Roger," Alyssa said turning off the headset, "Let's go Miyu,"

* * *

The sound of her cell phone vibrating snapped Nao out of her daze. She had been sitting under a large tree since the little incident with the orphan. She was probably going to regret saving the girl, but Natsuki didn't seem to want to do it for whatever reason. Now, because of her there was a chance Nina would get the wrong idea; the girl was sharp after all. Then again what did she care? What people thought of her, never really mattered to her anyway. _Let her think what she wants._

She snapped open the phone and began to read the new message she had just received.

'_Great to hear she's doing ok. I can't thank you enough for taking such good care of my daughter._

_Sergey'_

It had been the second message Nina's father had sent her today. She had received the first early this morning, just before she had run into that dimwit earlier. He was really becoming a nuisance to her, always asking her about the girl. If he wanted to know bad enough, he could've at least asked Nina herself, instead of bothering her all the time.

'_P.S. I got a chance to visit your mother today. The doctors say that there has been some more progress, which is good.'_

A small smile appeared on Nao's face as she read the news about her mother and not the usual smirk either. It was a more genuine one, one she didn't show very often and never around anyone else. "Idiot, who told you to go see her," she muttered under her breathe. The man had been a friend of her mother's, before she had become comatose and had recently been visiting her frequently lately. It had annoyed Nao to no end at first, but more and more she was getting use to hearing about her mother from him. It was the only reason she had grown to put up with him.

* * *

"Miss Mashiro, Miss Mai would like to have a word with you," Fumi's voice came from the other room. 

"It is fine with me, let her in,"

Shizuru noticed a little shakiness in the chairman's voice. It was as if hearing that Mai wanted to speak with her made her nervous. She couldn't help but wonder if it was the fact that it was a student, or the fact that it was Mai that made the little girl nervous. More than likely it was the latter, which made her curious about the situation.

"Is something the matter, Mai?" Mashiro asked as the flaming-haired girl walked through the large wooden doors.

"Something is going on at this school again, isn't it? Why didn't you say anything to us?" Mai asked walking over to the table where Mashiro and Shizuru sat. Her voice was soft but full of concern.

"What do you mean by that?" the smile on Mashiro's face was fading quickly.

However before the conversation could continue further the sound of a young girl's laughter resonated throughout the office, "Really is this how women do things these days?"

The three girls watched as a cloud of black vapor oozed from the ceiling and accumulated in the center of the room, slowly forming a small human-like shape. After the shape was complete the vapors dispersed revealing a young girl with pallid white hair, wearing what looked like a typical middle school uniform along with black netted gloves. Her eyes were covered by her long stringy hair and at her feet laid a black cat-shaped ball. She appeared to be preoccupied with the uniform she was wearing, holding up the edges of the skirt inspecting it like it was the first time she had ever worn it.

"Who are you?" Mashiro asked breaking the long silence that had fallen on the room's original occupants.

The pale girl raised her head at the sound of the chairman's voice and gave her a confused look, "Tell me, does this look good on me?"

"Huh?" a bewildered look had appeared on Mashiro's face. What was this girl?

"Nii-chan said that it would look cute on me, do you think so?"

Was she really being serious, and 'Nii-chan?' She couldn't be referring to Nagi, "Who are you?" Masjiro asked again. Her voice was slightly sterner than before.

"Uh, uh… If you won't answer my question, I won't answer yours," the white-haired girl replied shaking her head.

The grin on the girl's face reminded Mashiro of the one Nagi always wore. Could she really have been his sister? "Fine, fine it really suits you," her tone was defeated.

"Really?" the girl giggled twirling around, "You're lying aren't you? This uniform doesn't match my gloves does it?" she paused for a second, "But… whatever, an answer is an answer so I'll answer you. My name is Izu, I'll be handling the upcoming carnival."

So there was going to be another carnival, Mashiro had heard it with her own ears but what now?

"So this is the 'Queen of Hell' huh? So that's his preference…" the girl giggled staring at Mashiro, "Never thought the Obsidian Lord was such a dirty old man."

Mashiro winced at the remark; her cheeks were beginning to turn red. "What is that you want? What is going on?"

"Anywho, since I hold no authority over you I'm only here to give you some advice," Izu continued ignoring the purple-haired girl's questions, "Your place is on the sidelines, stay there ok?" With that her body transformed back into black vapor and disappeared from the room.

* * *

"Orphan?" Midori asked scratching her chin. The thought of them appearing again had crossed her mind a few times, but she never really thought that they would. Based on the research she had done so far there wasn't any precedence for such a thing. All of the carnivals she had studied ended after the Princess Star had left the Earth. Sure their case was a little different from those in the past, since the star had been destroyed but what did that have to do with it? If anything, it should be less likely that they would show up. There was also the possibility that it wasn't connected to the results of the carnival, but what? Hadn't she done enough research? 

Natsuki shook her head. She knew exactly what the woman was thinking. It was more than likely the same as she was thinking. The thought of another carnival wasn't a nice one, especially after how horrible things were during the last one. The confusion had been tough on everyone, herself included. The last thing she wanted was for Nina to experience anything remotely near what she had gone through. The only reason she hadn't approached the girl earlier about being a HiME was because the next carnival, if one were to even take place, shouldn't have occurred for another three hundred years, long after her lifetime. If she had known, she would've spoken to Nina a lot sooner. But it was already too late to regret keeping her silence; all she could do now was focus on the present.

"Very well, I guess I'll have to do some additional research. The more we can find out about what's going on, the better. Also someone will have to talk to Mashiro about this; she may know something we don't. We may have another carnival on our hands." Midori sighed. Having to do research on this meant she would have a lot less time to research her current project, if she could even do it at all anymore. Her marking was already going to decrease her free time.

"I don't think we will have to worry about speaking to Mashiro. Mai said something about heading that way with a new student," Natsuki replied flicking her hair back.

At that moment Yoko returned from behind the white curtain in her office, "She seems to be ok; nothing broken, just a few scratches and bruises. We should let her rest for now. She must've been really lucky to come out as unscathed as she is."

Midori cradled her chin in her palm. The girl had been a little too lucky, and Natsuki still hadn't told her exactly what happened. If she had been attacked and Natsuki had saved her before anything happened, she would've been in perfect condition. And if she had taken a blow, which it was obvious she had, the chances of only receiving a few scrapes was very unlikely, "What exactly happened?"

A simple yet tough question to answer. She could tell the redhead was on her way to figuring it out and if there was another carnival on the horizon, it was probably better to let the girl's secret out. "Like I said, she was attacked by an orphan; or rather she attacked the orphan."

"She's a HiME right?" Midori asked.

"Yes,"

"Very well, we'll just have to speak with her when she wakes up," Midori said stretching her arms. She didn't understand the circumstances, but it was probably better left alone. "But for now, the two of us have to get to class, right?"

"Actually I was…"

"You were going to class right?" Midori cut the brunette off mid-sentence. Her tone was serious and her eyes were boring holes into Natsuki's skull, "For someone with your class attendance record, you can't afford to skip class."

"Bu… but…"


	7. Chap 7: Awake

Author's Notes:

I'd just like to say thanks to everyone who has reviewed this story so far and sorry about taking so long with this chapter, but I pretty much slept the past week away.

* * *

Arika sat patiently in the lavishly decorated waiting room, unaware of what was going on in the other room. She was busy trying to make sense of what Mai had told her, since she didn't really understand what she had heard; it sounded too much something she would expect to see in anime or something. But at least she now understood what Aoi had meant by having 'to be cut from a certain cloth' to be a member of that club. A curiosity had been lit within her after witnessing the girl, Nao make such quick work of that creature, orphan as Mai had called them, a curiosity that was burning with almost the same intensity as her urge to find out about her mother. At that moment a truly curious thought had crossed her mind. 

_Could she have been a HiME as well?_ she wondered looking up into face the smiling pink-haired maid staring at her.

"Is there anything I can get you while you wait?" Fumi asked politely.

"No thank you."

"Miss Mashiro should be with you in a minute."

* * *

A grave silence had fallen on the chairman's large room; none of the three remaining occupants had spoken since the mysterious Izu had disappeared. 

"Mai you were saying something earlier right?" Mashiro broke the silence.

Mai hesitated for a second before answering. It had become clear to her that even Mashiro didn't have a clue what was going on, a real scary thought. "Uh… yeah, a student was attacked by an orphan a little while ago. The student that was attack also turned out to be a HiME."

"I see… HiME and orphan…" Mashiro replied, her poise was almost restored and it was time to come clean, "To answer your question truthfully, I don't know. This morning I received a very strange visit from Nagi, but he didn't really say much except ask me about my plans, which are nonexistent at this point."

"So… what are should we do?"

"Since I don't know anything about what is going on, I can't say," she spoke calmly, "However I think that the answers to this mystery might be right under our noses, the problem is getting to them."

"In the 'Land of Fuuka' I presume?" Shizuru broke her silence resting her empty teacup onto the table.

"Right, however the entrance to the land was sealed shortly after the Princess Star was destroyed, Nagi and I saw to it personally," a long sigh escaped Mashiro's mouth. She knew what she had just said meant, and she knew Mai and Shizuru were also aware of what it meant. The way both of them had shutter at the statement had been a dead giveaway. "Therefore we have no acceptable way of getting there… but for now don't worry about it too much. I'll speak to Midori about it to see if she has discovered anything, we'll see if we can figure it out, or at least form some sort of plan."

The two girls shook their heads in agreement.

"Mai have you seen Natsuki today?" Shizuru asked.

"Yes, why?"

"Oh, just curious," the chestnut-haired girl replied with a faint wink.

It took her a second before Mai understood why Shizuru had asked what she did. It didn't really surprise her that Shizuru knew about Nina, since Natsuki obviously knew.

* * *

The forest surrounding the Minagi estate was usually a quiet one. On any given day the only sounds that were common to it where the chirping and scuttling of the various creatures that call it home. However today was slightly different, there were a few new sounds overpowering the normal peacefulness. The sound of heavy breathing, the sound of a large blunt object dragging through the grass, the sound of dust unearthing, even the sound of the occasional tree falling, none of which seemed to bother Reito Minagi who was busy sipping tea on one of the many balconies of the mansion. 

"Master, it is almost time for your classes. Shouldn't you start getting ready?" a female voice came from inside the house as two maids walked onto the balcony.

"Thank you for reminding me, Miss Maria," Reito replied resting his empty teacup onto one of the maid's serving platters.

"If I might speak freely, isn't the mistress going a little overboard?" the old woman who was still inside questioned.

"Not at all," Reito assured her calmly, "She said that she wanted to get stronger, so as her older brother I'll do everything to help her. It isn't like she has broken anything irreplaceable yet."

"I just think that she should start to focus on her studies more especially since today was the first day of school."

"I am fully aware of that, and I completely agree with you. But that face she gave me this morning, I just couldn't say no to it," a smile appeared on his face.

"You are a reckless one Reito, filling your sister's head with your speculations," Maria said walking onto the balcony.

"You are right. I am not sure if something is going to happen or not, and I no longer have the Obsidian Lord's memories, but call it a gut feeling."

"Very well, if that is your decision,"

At that Reito turned to the maid standing next to him, "Please fetch my sister and see to it that she is cleaned up and given a ride back to Fuuka. Also inform her that she will only be allowed to visit me on the weekends from now on."

"Yes master," The maid replied walking back into the house.

Reito didn't have to look at Maria to know how intense the glare she was now giving him was. He could feel it well enough, and he knew he deserved it for forcing her to submit only to take her advice and make it look like his own idea.

* * *

Mashiro watched Shizuru carefully as Mai walked out of her office. That question she had asked was too random to not have some significance to it. Maybe she knew something that she wasn't letting on, and Mai seemed to understand the question as well. It probably was nothing; the increased stress from this morning's meetings coupled with these new developments was most likely getting to her. Right now she had to focus on her next meeting. 

The large wooden doors open once again and Fumi led Arika over to the table where Mashiro and Shizuru were sitting. After a brief introduction Fumi offered the azure-eyed girl a seat at the table and left.

"Shall we begin?" Mashiro asked turning to face Arika with a smile, "I am aware about the interesting situation you are currently in and I would just like to ask you a few questions. Is that ok?"

Arika shook her head, "Yes."

"Very well, just to be certain do you have any clues as to who the person who has contacted you is?"

"No,"

_As I have expected, _Mashiro spoke under her breath. "And do you have any idea why they want you to attend Fuuka?"

After chewing over the question a little Arika replied, "Yes, I think it may have something to with my mother."

"Your mother?" that was one thing the letter Mashiro had received didn't include.

"Yes, the letter said that my mother went to school here,"

"Hmm," this was really interesting, "Judging from your application I take it you've never met your parents correct?"

"Yes Grandma raised me since I was a baby, but I want to find about my real parents."

"Very well," Mashiro said, that was enough she had to know. The girl's situation, though unique didn't seem to be connected to the HiME carnival. "Since this situation is such a delicate one, I've decided to offer you this." She handed Arika, who seemed confused a small envelope. "It is just a small scholarship to cover the cost of living here."

Arika nodded in acceptance. The thought of finding money for things like food and other stuff had crossed her mind. She had intended to find a part-time job after school to cover those expenses, but never had she imagined being fortunate enough to receive a scholarship.

* * *

Nina's eyes slowly began to open; everything was blurry, she couldn't see anything other than a bright white light that was pounding down on her eyelids. As her eyes opened a little wider a dark object moved in front of the bright light, casting a shadow over her head. After a second the object moved out of her vision casting the light back into face. She didn't have any idea what the object was, but it was circular, like a head or something. Gradually as her thoughts began to gather and she felt her strength returning, she suddenly sat up, eyes wide open. They were greeted by a pair of deep dark purple eyes that looked shocked. At first the surprised look in the person's eyes had confused her, but it didn't take long for her to understand. Apparently their eyes weren't the only body parts that had met which made Nina blush profusely. 

Yoko gently pushed the flushed young girl's head back down onto the pillow, separating their lips. She didn't expect the girl to just sit up so fast; if she had she would've moved her head away a little more. But it didn't really matter since it was only an accident.

"I think I'm a little old for you," she joked, covering her lips to stop herself from giggling too much.

The nurse's joke only stood to make Nina's cheeks glow an even brighter red. Never had she imagine that, that would be how she got her first kiss. No it didn't count, it couldn't count, it was only an accident. But even after she had convinced herself of this, it didn't do away with her reddened cheeks.

"Anyway don't get up like that again, you should be resting,"

_How did I get here?_ she wondered looking around the nurse's office. The last thing she remembered was getting the crap knocked out of her by the orphan's claws, and the last thing she remembered seeing was a pair of azure colored eyes staring down at her. Something about the girl's face had seemed reminiscence, like she had seen it or something similar before but she couldn't place it.

Memories aside, how did she get to the nurse's office? Did someone save her and if so who? Also did they see her fighting and did they figure out her secret? She didn't know the answers to any of these questions and it bothered her. Could Nao have saved her? Slim chance of that; the girl only seemed to care about herself and her mother, that's it. What about the president? She had been acting weird this morning, like she wanted her to admit something. Could she know? But how would that be possible?

"Nao…" Nina growled softly.

"Did you say something?" Yoko turned around curiously.

Nina shook her head no. She was going to kill that girl the next time she saw her. But it wasn't Nao's style to just void a favor someone owed her, however it was the only rational explanation she could come up with. There was also the possibility that the girl she saw last had saved her, but who was she? Was she a HiME like her, and did she have the same problem as her?

* * *

The classroom had been moderately quiet when Erstin returned; there were only a few students, none of which were Nina, chatting about something. She really wished Nina had been there, the girl's behavior in class had already worried her, and her absence from lunch had only made it worst. Something was definitely wrong, she was sure of it, but what? 

Classes had resumed as they usually did after lunch, however Nina still hadn't returned which only stood to make Erstin even more concerned than she already was. It was definitely not like Nina to miss a class; it was part of the reason she held the number one spot in her class for the two years she had been at Fuuka. Even when she had been sick, much to Erstin's dismay, she had made every attempt to go to class.

Erstin was so concerned that she hadn't even realized that halfway through the class, the chairman's assistant/maid Fumi had led a new student, her new roommate into the classroom.

"Hello, I'm Arika Yumemiya, please take care of me," the azure-eyed girl introduced herself after writing her name on the board.

"Thank you, you may take your seat now," the teacher pointed toward the desk behind Erstin.

_

* * *

Dear god, save me! _Natsuki screamed in her head as her teacher babbled on about who knows what, she wasn't paying attention. Since there were so few classes that she had sat through the past two years, she didn't have the slightest idea where the class was in their studies. Shoot she wouldn't have even know what subject it was if the teacher hadn't written it on the board.

There were countless unsavory things she wanted to do to Midori for making her come to class. It wasn't like she hadn't been studying in her own; damn did she have to considering that the year before last she had done almost no work because of the same thing that was probably going to happen again soon. With the shear amount of work she had done, she was probably ahead of the class by quite a bit now. So why did she have to attend class? It was pointless in her opinion.

Just when she was about to dose off she sensed a pair of eyes fixed on her. Naturally the first place she looked was directly ahead at the teacher, but his head was buried in the textbook he was reading from. Before she had the chance to look at anyone else, the feeling went away. _What was that about? _She wondered. Was she just being paranoid? Maybe…

Just as she had given up, her eyes met with the light tan-haired girl sitting next to her. Their eyes had entwined for more than half a minute before the girl flashed her an innocent smile and a polite wave before returning her focus toward the teacher.

_Eh! Was she the one who was staring at me? _Natsuki pondered still gazing at the girl. She had definitely seen her around campus before. Ein Luu she believed it was.


End file.
